Rawls and the Duty to Posterity

Ernest Partridge

Doctoral Dissertation
University of Utah, 1976

1. The Problem of Posterity.2 The Posterity Problem in Contemporary Philosophical Thought 3 Some Dimensions of the Problem of Posterity. 4 John Rawls's Theory of Justice: A Preliminary Glance. 5 The Plan of the Dissertation.

12 Posterity: A Unique Case13 Duties to the Non-Existent? 14 Duties to the Indefinite Unborn. 15 Can Posterity's "Rights" Be Claimed? 16 "The Right to Exist" 17 The Time Factor 18 Correlativity Again 19 The Posterity Problem: A Summary

Addendum I: Further Thoughts on "The Rights of Future Generations" Addendum II: The Riddle of the Non-Beethoven – A Postscript.

29. Rawls on Obligations, Duties and Rights. 30. Posterity and the Deontological Approach. 31. Posterity and the Original Position.32. "Just Savings"33. "Time Preference" 34. Posterity and the "Full Theory of the Good"

35 "Justice Between Generations": Conceptual Parameters.36 Justice to Possible Persons .37 The First and Last Generations.38 Non-Reciprocity and "The Present Time of Entry Interpretation" 39 "The Heads of Families" Condition. 40 The Span of Responsibility.

41 Beyond "Just Savings" 42 Just Savings and the Ecological Perspective.43 "Self Transcendence": A Proposal. 44 Is Self-Transcendence a Primary Good? 45 Rawls and Self-Transcendence. 46 Just Provision as an Abstract Principle of Justice. 47 Just Provision as a Practical Principle of Justice.48 Summing Up: The "Guiding Questions" Revisited.